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NCDOT has awarded a contract to mill and resurface the Clayton Bypass.
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RALEIGH— Johnston County drivers will encounter fewer bumps during their commutes on the U.S. 70 Bypass as a result of a $3.5 million contract awarded by the N.C. Department of Transportation.
The contract awarded to Fred Smith Company of Raleigh includes milling and resurfacing 9.6 miles of the U.S. 70 Bypass in each direction between Sadisco Road and the Wake County line. The project will also include each of the following ramps and loops, which amounts to an additional 5.2 miles:
Westbound U.S. 70 Bypass Exit 326A loop to U.S. 70 Business
Eastbound U.S. 70 Bypass Exit 326 loop to U.S. 70 Business
Westbound and Eastbound U.S. 70 Business Entrance Ramps to U.S. 70 Bypass
Westbound and Eastbound U.S. 70 Bypass Exit Ramps to Ranch Road
Westbound and Eastbound Ranch Road Entrance Ramps to U.S. 70 Bypass
Westbound and Eastbound U.S. 70 Bypass Exit Ramps to N.C. 42
Westbound and Eastbound N.C. 42 Entrance Ramps to U.S. 70 Bypass
Work on the project can begin April 2, 2018 and is expected to be complete by October 19, 2018.
The NC Board of Transportation has approved the final 2018-2027 STIP. According to the interactive map, projects on all the future (and proposed) interstate corridors (I-795, I-42, I-87, NC-11) were included except for US-264 (Future I-587), with the exception of pavement rehab on the section that is concurrent with I-795 in Wilson.
Upgrading NC-11 to interstate standards between the Greenville Southwest Bypass and the future Harvey Parkway extension was also included, as well as the parkway extension itself.
U.S. 117 southbound is down to one lane due to work at O'Berry Road.
Road closures, lane reductions and detours loom during the construction of interchanges on U.S. 117 South at O'Berry Road, Dudley, and Country Club Road, just north of Mount Olive.
Both interchanges are being built to enhance safety and in preparation for U.S. 117 eventually being designated as an Interstate in this area, DOT officials said.
Both intersections already carry an average of 15,000 vehicles per day, and that number is expected to increase to more than 27,000 per day by 2037, according to DOT data.
It is not the only roadwork that motorists may run into -- several paving projects in other areas of the county will be ongoing as well.
Even though workers might not be present in work zones, motorists should still expect narrowed or closed lanes, traffic shifts and reduced speed limits as well as other conditions that might affect normal travel.
Speeding in designated work zones can result in a penalty of $250, plus court costs.
Update for I-42. While the minutes from last month's meeting have not yet been posted, the US-70 Corridor Commission did post the Director's Report for June & July. The Havelock Bypass is still tied up in negotiations due to the lawsuit filed by the SELC last December. The let date for upgrading US-70 to interstate standards in James City has been moved up from 2021 to 2019 with no opposition from the locals. The Kinston Bypass is apparently being designed to be raised above the flood area that was hit by Hurricane Matthew and the draft Environmental Impact Statement is planned for early 2018. The planned projects on US-70 near Wilson's Mills got a lot of support during the public meeting on July 17 with Right of Way beginning next year.
The US-117 Connector/NC-50 intersection improvement project near Faison has been put on hold since it had no public support at all.
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Planned safety improvements to the U.S. 117/N.C. 50 intersection are on hold and could even be dropped because of public opposition.
All of the 10 comments received at a recent public meeting on the project were in opposition, said Michael Bass, state Department of Transportation Division 3 project manager.
The complaints fell into three categories -- possible adverse effect on emergency response time, large trucks and slow-moving farm vehicles.
Faison town officials have asked that DOT representatives attend the town board's Sept. 6 meeting to further explain the project, particularly for those who did not attend the first meeting held July 25, at Faison Town Hall, 110 N.E. Center St.
The project would eliminate left turns from N.C. 50 onto the U.S. 117 Connector at the roads' intersection just north of Faison.
The project is designed to reduce angle and left turn crashes at the site where there have been 10 crashes between 2009 and 2014 -- six angle crashes and two left turn crashes.
One of the left turn crashes resulted in two fatalities.
The improvements would turn N.C. 50 into a "superstreet," also referred to as a "synchronized street," which improves safety and reduces delays by eliminating left turns from side streets.
Instead, drivers make U-turns at a safer distance from the intersection.
Under the plan, traffic on N.C. 50 would no longer be able to cross the U.S. 117 Connector in order to make a turn left.
Motorists on N.C. 50 would have to turn right onto the U.S. 117 Connector and travel along the road for a certain distance, 950 to 1,000 feet, before they could make a U-turn.
Traffic on the U.S. 117 Connector would still be able to turn left onto N.C. 50.
Bass said some of the comments were concerned that slow-moving farm vehicles could not travel fast enough along the U.S. 117 Connector to safely make the U-turn.
Others were worried that the U-turns would add time to emergency vehicle response times, Bass said.
Those at the meeting were asked if they thought the existing intersection was better than the proposal.
They said it was, Bass said.
Bass said the DOT would like to move forward if possible, but that for now the project is "kind of up in the air."
No right-of-way acquisition will be required for the $1.6 million project. Construction had been scheduled to start in June 2018.
Currently, N.C. 50 is a two-lane undivided roadway, controlled by stop signs with red flashing beacons to provide additional warnings to approaching vehicles at the intersection. It has a 55 mph speed limit.
The U.S. 117 Connector is a four-lane, divided roadway with right and left turn lanes in both directions at the intersection.
It operates as a free movement roadway with yellow flashing beacons at the intersection.
The speed limit is 60 mph.
The U.S. 117 Connector extends from Interstate 40 in Sampson County to U.S. 117 at Calypso.
A long-term goal is to turn it and U.S. 117 in Wayne County into an extension of Interstate 795 that currently ends just north of West Ash Street in Goldsboro.
Even if the U.S. 117/N.C. 50 project is shelved, it will have no practical impact on the I-795 project that is still decades away in Duplin County, Bass said.
That project is not included in the DOT's recently approved 10-year Transportation Improvement Plan for Duplin County.
The Wayne County portion is included in the plan, although some of it is not funded as of 2027.
For more information, contact Bass at 910-341-2000 or by email at mlbass@ncdot.gov.
GREENVILLE – The N.C. Department of Transportation has awarded a $6.5 million contract to mill, resurface and reconstruct shoulders on more than 11 miles of roadway in Lenoir and Jones Counties.
The contract awarded to Barnhill Contracting Company of Rocky Mount includes improvements to four sections of U.S. 70 between Mt. Vernon Park Drive in Kinston and Dover Road in Jones County.
Milling and resurfacing improves both traction and ride quality on the road, which is especially important during rainy and snowy weather. Shoulder reconstruction provides motorists with a refuge area in case of an emergency.
Work on this project is scheduled to begin as soon as Sept. 25, and is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 30, 2018. Some lane closures will be needed but no detours are proposed at this time.
I wouldn't get my hopes up regarding NCDOT's statement about shoulder reconstruction. They made the same claim when they did the section between La Grange and Kinston and the shoulders were still not widened. So much for the "refuge area".
O'Berry Road at U.S. 117 South at Dudley will be closed within the next five to 10 days as the at-grade intersection is transformed into an interchange.
The date could hinge somewhat on how the tropical weather expected to strike coastal North Carolina today affects Wayne County, said Michael Alford of S.T. Wooten Corp., the company doing the work.
Once O'Berry Road is closed the existing pavement will be broken up and traffic will have to find alternate routes, he said.
Detour signs will be posted when the road is closed, he said.
When O'Berry Road is closed there will be no exit off U.S. 117 between U.S. 117 Alternate just south of the Wayne County Fairgrounds and Country Club Road just north of Mount Olive.
U.S. 117 Alternate runs parallel to U.S. 117 and will be the main detour on the east side of U.S. 117.
On the west side is Durham Lake Road.
The closure will be followed in the next few months with traffic being reduced to one lane each in both directions on U.S. 117.
While lane closures may be necessary over the course of several months as girders are placed for the new overpass, they will only last for a day or two at a time, Alford said.
Some of that work will be done at night to lessen the impact on traffic, he said.
Crews have been busy for the past several weeks clearing trees and shrubbery for the on and off ramps.
The company has one year to complete the O'Berry interchange.
Wooten will begin work on an interchange at Country Club Road by late February or early March, Alford said. Construction on this section of the project is limited to 18 months.
Both interchanges are scheduled for completion by October 2019, with additional work including vegetation and reforestation possibly continuing through March 2020.
O'Berry Road will travel over U.S. 117, and U.S. 117 will pass over Country Club Road.
The two projects will cost an estimated $20.6 million.
Both interchanges are being built to enhance safety and in preparation for U.S. 117 eventually being designated as an Interstate in this area, state Department of Transportation officials said.
Both intersections already carry an average of 15,000 vehicles per day, and that number is expected to increase to more than 27,000 per day by 2037, according to DOT data.
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